Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users

TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT: A LEGACY FOR USERS -- (House of Representatives - April 01, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 593 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 3550.

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IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill (H.R. 3550) to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes, with Mr. Simpson (Chairman pro tempore) in the chair.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The car pool lane has been a tremendous success at reducing air pollution and alleviating traffic jams since it was introduced 3 decades ago. The idea works because it is a simple trade-off, more choice for more responsibility. We can use this powerful trade-off to encourage more than just car pooling. Hybrid gas electric cars have doubled the gas mileage of standard cars, which means they fight air pollution as surely as car pooling does; and unlike other clean car technologies, they are also now available in meaningful numbers.

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This fledgling technology has great potential, but we need to help it get off the ground further. There is a small tax deduction for purchasing a hybrid car, but expanding this deduction would cost money at a time when we are tightening our fiscal belts.

Instead, we can use the incentive of the car pool lanes to encourage drivers to purchase hybrid cars without affecting the U.S. Treasury's bottom line. Both the administration and the Senate have recognized the potential of this approach. Their versions of the transportation bill permits State and local jurisdictions to allow hybrids in the car pool lane, even if the driver is alone. For cities with heavy air pollution, this could be an effective tool to coax drivers into cleaner cars. It also takes decisions about this issue out of Washington and puts them in the hands of local communities.

My amendment would accomplish the same goal by removing a mandate for a toll requirement. This lets States and local governments decide for themselves whether to allow hybrids in the car pool lane, whether to charge a toll or not.

Some say this risks overcrowding the car pool lane, but my amendment requires local governments to monitor the effect of letting in hybrids and impose restrictions, if necessary. Thus, if a toll became necessary, one could be charged.

More to the point, hybrid cars are less than ½ of 1 percent of the cars on the road today, and a car pool lane crowded with hybrids is a problem many governments would love to have.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), and thank him for his work on this issue.

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
Mr. Chairman, as you perhaps know, H.R. 243, the Hybrid Vehicle Incentive Act, which I authored in the previous Congress and again in this Congress, serves to do a similar incentive program for HOV use by hybrid vehicles. Since it is tied up in the energy bill and since the transportation language was at best vague as to whether or not charges must occur, I thank my colleague for his leadership in seeing that there was an easy remedy to ensure that municipalities and States could charge zero, thus eliminating the requirement to put a toll on these efficient vehicles that are leading the way toward ending or at least reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

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